Antony Henn has been involved in horticulture all his life. His mother and father, Hans and Anna, started one of the first garden centers in the UK in 1959, The Dutch Nursery in Hertfordshire, which Antony and his four brothers and sister helped to develop throughout the 1980s and ‘90s. The family still runs the garden center to this day.  

Setting up his design and landscaping business “Gardens for Life” in 1992, Antony worked on many amazing garden projects for prestigious clients. One of his favorite projects was a stunning Japanese water feature for Sir Paul McCartney. During the 1990s, Antony worked on many gardening shows, most memorably Gardeners’ World in 1996 and a wonderful series “Roots and Shoots” based in the West Country from 2002.  

“Garden on a Roll” was devised by Antony in 2009 while helping to plant a school garden. He drew circles and letters on wallpaper to mark where to plant, so for the children it was like planting by numbers. This is where the business idea took root.  

While still running a successful garden design business, Antony started developing the “Garden on a Roll” concept by testing various bio-degradable paper materials to monitor their weed suppressant qualities and rate of decomposition. “Garden on a Roll” launched on QVC in March 2011 and has been featured in numerous publications and won many innovation awards since.